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Barnes plans to head to Venezuela in the offseason

Barnes plans to head to Venezuela in the offseason

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HOUSTON -- Playing deep into September and in the first week of October will be a new experience for Astros rookie center fielder Brandon Barnes, but that's not going to keep him away from the field when the regular season ends.

Barnes, who was called up from Triple-A on Aug. 7 for his Major League debut, plans to play for about a month with Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League immediately after end of the Major League season. Barnes played in Australia last winter.

"There's great competition out there, and it will help me to go and play," he said. "I'll keep refining my approach at the plate and just learn new things as I go along. Just the biggest thing is my plate discipline getting better and continuing to improve if I want to play at a high level like this and be as good as I can be."

Barnes, 25, spent more than seven years in the Astros' system before finally making his debut. He entered Sunday hitting .221 with a homer and seven RBIs, though he had struck out 21 times in 77 at-bats. He also has a pair of spectacular diving catches in center field in his brief time up.

In Venezuela, Barnes hopes to get 70-80 at-bats.

"I'm going to play the same game and try to refine some things and work hard," he said.